Marine Robotics: Opportunities for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Marine Robotics: Opportunities for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Dr. J. G. Bellingham, Director Center for Marine Robotics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Framing the Marine Robotics Market Massachusetts leads the newest and most promising segment of Marine Robotics, the research, development and commercial manufacture of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. Two classes of platforms dominate the Marine Robotics industry today, Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). ROVs share similarities to drone aircraft, in that they are continuously controlled by a team of human operators. Because radio waves do not penetrate seawater, ROVs are tethered to ships, which house the operators and which provide power and communications to the vehicles. AUVs operate without a tether, allowing them much greater freedom of motion, but also imposing the requirements that they be capable of operating without direct human control and that they carry their own power source. AUVs are a newer technology, enabled by advances in computers, software, sensors, and batteries. While the market for AUVs is currently less than ROVs, its growth is projected to be greater for the foreseeable future. ROVs capable of operating at several thousand meters depth once existed only at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a few other advanced operational organizations. Today ROVs are essential operational elements of off-shore oil and gas production, used for drilling support, installation of subsea equipment, ongoing inspection and maintenance, and decommissioning. The 2013 market for ROVs operations is variously estimated from $1.6B1 and $2.5B2. ROV production is global in nature. Massachusetts firms provide many ROV components, and produce some of the smaller classes of ROVs, but is not a large player in the current ROV market.
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